Gebbia: Brian and I started Airbnb by solving a problem through design. We couldn’t afford the rent, so we opened up our home for guests to stay with us.

Chesky: From conference rooms modeled after listings to storyboarding the user experience, design has a voice in everything–even in how a new employee starts their first day.

what if design ran the boardroom?

Gebbia: We encourage employees to ship new features on day one, which immediately encourages them to come up with something creative and different. One new designer decided to change the icon you used to favorite a listing from a star to a heart. This little change increased engagement by over 30% and inspired a new product: Wish Lists.